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When a machine goes down

Overhead view of parts clearly showing there was a problem with cutting.

Many of you had the chance to go to FABTECH® in Chicago this year and enjoy everything the show had to offer. I didn’t have the pleasure of going, but the head honcho of Barnes MetalCrafters, aka my dad, got to make the trip.

I had a good reason for not going: My wife and I were expecting our first child during the show. I’m not sure if I could have lived that one down if I was in Chicago when my wife went into labor; so, as anyone in my shoes should, I stayed home.

We were fairly busy at the shop, and holding down the fort while the boss was enjoying Chicago was supposed to be a breeze. Work was lined up for everyone, and the flow would stream on until the boss arrived back from the show.

I jumped in the truck Monday morning, the first day of FABTECH, and noticed a text before I left the driveway. Our laser operator, Jason Barnes, had a family emergency and wouldn’t be able to make it to work. I understood and continued on my way.

When I got to work, I topped off my coffee and made my rounds in the shop, only to discover our lead guy, Nick Trueheart, was sick as a dog. I wasn’t sure why he was there and knew he would be leaving at any time.

I thought, two down, it could be worse.

I walked to the back and spoke to our TIG welder, Marty Perry, and he had an awful look on his face. He went on to tell me he had tweaked his back over the weekend and needed to go to the doctor.

Three down, and Monday was on a roll.

I figured I would get the laser fired up and find some long sheets that would cut nicely without any supervision. This would keep the parts coming, but not in the order I would have liked.

Tuesday rolled around and the same three guys were out for the same reasons. I did the same thing with the laser before going to look at a job with Randy Davis. We had to deliver some parts and take a few field measurements at a customer across town. Luckily, we had our secretary, Joyce Upchurch, and a few other guys to keep things in order.

Close-up view of the warped and torn X-drive belt.

When Randy and I got back, I noticed the laser had stopped. There was an overvoltage error, the same error Jason had seen a few times in the past month. We had been in discussion with the manufacturer about some possible causes, but nothing major had come about. I managed to get the laser running, and shortly after we heard a loud bang, loud enough to make Randy jump like a cartoon character.

We both went back to the machine with blank faces. I ran a backfill on the laser and instructed another co-worker on how to remove the bellows so we could get a closer look at the ball screws along the X and Y axes.

In the meantime, I went inside the office and began calling the laser manufacturer’s headquarters in Chicago. I didn’t have much luck getting in touch with anyone besides the operator. I understood, as most of the employees probably were at FABTECH.

I had an idea that the problem had something to do with the belts that drove the X and Y axes along the ball screws, but I had other things on my plate and not much time to work on this.

Part quality was another clue that the belts could be the issue. The edge quality was perfect, but the shape was off along the outside perimeter. The edge was about 1/16 to 1/8 in. off where the start and finish joined. This wasn’t the case on every part, but had I been watching the laser run, I would have noticed the problem.

The next morning our shop was back to full manpower, and our laser operator called me before I made it to work. He found the belt that drove the X axis was slightly torn and loose. I called the laser supplier and a belt and service technician were scheduled to arrive on Thursday.

I figured the boss would return Thursday, and the laser would be back banging parts out after a quick belt change. Quick is not the word for a belt change on our laser. This was a bit more involved than replacing an alternator belt on a car.

Before starting, I spoke with Jason about taking advantage of his time with the service tech. I told him to pick his brain and find out some more about the guts of this machine that we aren’t used to seeing. He understood and was excited to learn.

I was quickly impressed with the service tech. He was very thorough and would have made a good tech instructor. I could see the look of excitement on Jason’s face as he was learning more about the machine he operates.

The tech and Jason got quite a bit done on Thursday and chose to finish Friday morning. They got most of the machine buttoned up and ran a few movements along the X and Y axes before the machine came to a halt. After some troubleshooting they found out—or thought—that because it was displaying some error codes, the X-axis computer was failing. A replacement part was overnighted to the technician’s hotel, but was damaged upon arrival. The technician headed home and planned to return when a new part arrived the following Tuesday.

Inside view of the X-axis ball screw and the orange replacement belt.

Little did I know that my wife and I would be paying a visit to the delivery room that weekend. Our baby girl was born at 2:19 a.m. Monday morning, and there was no way I would be going to the shop for a few days. It was kind of bittersweet, as there wasn’t much I could have done at the shop with the laser down and work fizzling out.

I stayed in contact with my dad throughout the week as he was as curious about his new granddaughter as I was about the laser. Turned out the computer wasn’t the problem, and they thought it may have been the cable that was snaked from the motor to the computer. A new cable would not arrive until Friday, so the service guy left again.

By this time our employees were taking time off because there basically was nothing to do. Customers were getting irritated and so was dad.

We were dead in the water for more than a week and a half. It’s the nature of the beast. The machine had run with few hiccups for nearly eight years. This just happened to be the time when components chose to fail.

Friday rolled around, and after several days of little sleep at home with my new daughter Lillian, I made an appearance at the shop. The cable arrived shortly after I got to work, but the problem continued after a simple test. Jason, dad, and I talked for a little while and we tried a few things with the cables. No luck.

We called the service tech and determined the only other problem could be the X-drive motor, an expensive part, but we had to have it. More waiting on parts, but we should be good to go by the end of the day the following Monday.

Bottomline is, no shop and no one wants a machine to go down. Our laser is the heart of our business and keeps workers fed. We all should have more color in our faces when it starts spitting parts out again.

Sometimes you can’t teach someone how to fix something until it’s broken or starts acting funny. This was one of those times. We all learned from this experience, especially Jason, who got to spend plenty of time working on the bowels of the laser with the service technician.

There is no telling when a machine will go down, and oftentimes you can’t prepare for it, unless you have a spare. Not many shops like ours have a second laser, so playing catchup is par for the course.

All images courtesy of Barnes MetalCrafters.

About the Author
Barnes MetalCrafters

Nick Martin

2121 Industrial Park Drive SE

Wilson, NC, 27893

252-291-0925